The customer brings you a Ruger® New Model Blackhawk® and claims that it doesn’t fire when he pulls the trigger. He says that the hammer seems to be working; it locks back, and it falls when he pulls the trigger.
Safety;
1. How would you safely clear the chambers and barrel of ammunition and potential obstructions? There are two ways to inspect this single action revolver for the presence of ammunition. The first being opening the loading gate and turning the cylinder until you have inspected every chamber in the cylinder. The second being to pull the center bar out that links the cylinder to the frame. This is located just under the barrel and requires you press a spring loaded lock bar to remove the pivot bar. Then open the loading gate and the entire cylinder will come out. As far as clearing the barrel for obstructions goes, you can use a bore light at one end of the barrel to look for light coming out the other side. You could also insert a cleaning rod to see if there are any stoppages if a bore light is not available.
2.Based on the model of revolver, is it single action, double action, or double action
only?
The Ruger Blackhawk is a single action only type revolver.
3.Does this revolver have a transfer bar?
Yes, the Ruger New Model Black Hawk does have a transfer bar.
4.Is a “light strike” a potential cause of this malfunction? What failure type is a “light strike” (i.e. failure to...)?
A light strike is a failure to fire type malfunction. Though it may not be the ammunition that is the problem. More likely the firing pin is worn down or cracked or the transfer bar is not lifting to the correct position to allow the connection of the hammer and firing pin.
5.How you might detect a “light strike”?
After pulling the trigger and watching the hammer fall with no round being shot the user should hold the firearm in a safe direction for and additional few seconds just in case a hang fire occurs. Once you’re sure the ammunition is not going to fire, empty the cylinder and inspect the primer on the casing. If the dent left is less then those casing that did fire this may mean that the firing pin did not hit the priming cup into its anvil and the priming compound did not ignite.
6.What are some of the components that you might suspect if the transfer bar is not functioning properly?
On occasion the transfer bar is bent and gets hung up on the bottom of the firing pin. The trigger will pull about halfway and you would notice a stoppage in the pull due to the transfer bar hitting the bottom of the firing pin instead of sliding in front of the firing pin as intended.
7.What are some of the components that you might suspect may cause a failure to fire in this
type of revolver?
The transfer bar is definitely one of the components that can cause this firearm to not fire. It could also be a number of different things like the cylinder lock slipping the notch and the round is misaligned and the firing pin struck the casing and not the primer.
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